First and foremost, please accept my apology for previously publishing misleading results. The benchmark tests were all conducted properly, but the test tool I used did not accurately illustrate the difference between SATA controller mode performance. After conducting several new tests using additional benchmark tools, my opinion on the matter has changed.

For those who want to know how to change AHCI to IDE or viceversa without sufferings BSODs or formatting I want to add the next instructions:

AHCI to IDE mode:

* Press [Win] + R or take the RUN option from the start menu.
* Now type regedit there and press Enter Key to open up the Registry Editor Window.
* If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
* Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Pciide
* In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
* In the Value data box, type 0 [3 is default], and then click OK.
* On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.
* Restart your computer
* Go to BIOS and enable IDE, Save & Reboot
* Another restart will be required to finish the driver installation.

IDE to AHCI mode:

* Exit all Windows-based programs.
* Press [Win] + R or take the RUN option from the start menu.
* Now type regedit there and press Enter Key to open up the Registry Editor Window.
* If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
* Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\msahci
* In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
* In the Value data box, type 0 [3 is default], and then click OK.
* On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.
* Restart your computer
* Go to BIOS and enable AHCI, Save & Reboot
* Another restart will be required to finish the driver installation.